The big news today is that Google has bought the ad serving firm Doubleclick for $3.1 billion. This follows a bidding war with Microsoft which resulted in a buying price well beyond the $1.1 billion that was spent on Doubleclick in 2005. This also towers over the $1.76 billion spent on Youtube in 2006, Google obviously mean business.
So what does this mean for the digital environment? well, it shows that Google aren't content with the search market and are moving into the online display advertising market in a big way, which is a bit of a bummer for Microsoft who if anything could count display as its real area of strength...oh well....
It also demonstrates that tracking and optimisation in online advertising is seen as and is supremely important and a fundamental part of any solution.
By the way, we can't have this blog and not mention the fact that the online advertising market was worth £2 billion in 2006 and even better, recruitment accounted for nearly 25% of this market!!! Amazing.
This shows us how far we have come and yet there is still so much to do. Exciting times.
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It is going to be very interesting to see how google aproach this next stage ...
It is moving away from their core business and it will have challenges. But if they aproach things in the right way it could really shake up the market.
Lets face it they are very disruptive (in a good way)... and that always makes things interesting.
Posted by: John Whitehurst | 19/04/2007 at 11:25 AM